Verizon Promotion Doubles Data Allowance for 4G LTE Users

Verizon is launching a sweet, if potentially dangerous, deal for new 4G LTE smartphone owners: for a limited time it will double your data allowance.

The promotion begins today, Nov.8, and applies to all new and old customers who have bought a 4G smartphone within the last 14 days.

Current data plans on Verizon cost $30/month for 2GB; $50/month for 5GB; $80/month for 10GB. During the promotion period, for instance, you can get 4GB of data for $30/month, and so forth.

Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney said the promotion would last for as long as Verizon offers the above data rates, which will take customers "through the holidays," at least.

How quickly will you blow through all that data on a 4G LTE smartphone? As lead mobile analyst Sascha Segan discovered while testing the Motorola Droid Bionic—the carrier's first dual-core LTE smartphone—it's easy to blow through 2GB of data on Verizon's LTE network. In four days of testing, with half an hour of Netflix, three hours of streaming radio, two e-mail accounts attached and some app downloads, he ran up 600MB of data usage. At that rate he would have gone through 2GB in two weeks. Click here to play with Verizon's data calculator.

Sara Yin is a junior analyst in the Software, Internet, and Networking group at PCmag.com, pouring most of her energy into app testing and security matters at Security Watch with Neil Rubenking. She lies awake at night pondering the state of mobile security (half-true).
Prior to joining PCMag.com, Sara spent five years reporting for publications in New York City (Huffington Post), Hong Kong (South China Morning Post), and Singapore (Campaign Asia, Men's Health).
Follow her on Twitter at @SecurityWatch and @sarapyin, or contact her the...
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